End of the Innocence
by Bunny1
Summary: Dana's professor starts harassing her... will Rich come to the rescue?


                               "End of the Innocence"  
                                                                  by,  
                                                                       Bunny_  
  
  
Remember when the days were long   
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky   
Didn't have a care in the world   
With mommy and daddy standin' by   
But "happily ever after" fails   
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales   
The lawyers dwell on small details   
Since daddy had to fly   
  
_Dana smiled as Rich rained kisses on the pulse of her neck.  
  
"Mmmm..." he mumbled. "Found that yummy spot again..."  
  
Dana laughed.  
  
"You're cute, you know that?"   
  
"Yeah, just glad you know..." he teased, running his fingers through her straw-blonde hair.  
  
"I have class in like ten minutes..." she said reluctantly, not wanting to disentangle herself from his arms.   
  
"Is it a required or elective?" he asked, burying his face in her hair.  
  
"Required, unfortunately; it's the _worst _class I've _ever_ had to take..."   
  
"Oh, yeah... _that_ class..." Rich said sympathetically. "Well, don't let that professor give ya too hard a time." he smiled, dropping a kiss on her forehead.   
  
"Hey, you're talking to Superwoman." Dana quipped, giving him a searing kiss on the mouth.  
_  
But I know a place where we can go   
That's still untouched by men   
We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by   
And the tall grass wave in the wind   
You can lay your head back on the ground   
And let your hair fall all around me   
Offer up your best defense   
But this is the end   
This is the end of the innocence   
  
_Even though she'd made jokes with Rich, Dana always dreaded this class. In fact, _everyone_ did. The professor, Dr. Jeremy Hardcroft, was a first-class, grade-A _jerk_. And, it wasn't just her...  
  
_Everyone_ knew it... he was pretentious and smart-alec. Only like 2% of the people taking his classes in a semester passed, and sometimes not even them...    
  
She wasn't quite sure why she was required to take this class, considering it was something she'd have a secretary to do for her anyways, but...  
  
Well, she shouldn't let some pretentious twit with a stick up his ass intimidate her; she would _not_ be repeating any classes..._  
  
O' beautiful, for spacious skies    
But now those skies are threatening   
They're beating plowshares into swords   
For this tired old man that we elected king   
Armchair warriors often fail   
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales   
The lawyers clean up all details   
Since daddy had to lie  
  
_Rich had decided to take the rest of the day off and do something nice for Dana.  
  
"She works too hard..." he thought.    
  
"Rich, man, what are you doin'?" JT asked as he came in and saw his best-friend and roomate spreading candles and flower-petals all over the "bachelor-pad" as they affectionately called it.  
  
"Well... I need the apartment tonight? Romantic evening planned... gonna surprise Dana."  
  
"Ewww, do _not_ need visuals or details of yours and Barky's sex-life!"  
  
Rich rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, like I like hearing you go on about you an' Sam?"   
  
"That's different."  
  
"Yeah, well... hang with your girlfriend tonight?"  
  
"Okay, okay... good luck, brosky... You'll need it..."_  
  
But I know a place where we can go   
And wash away this sin   
We'll sit and watch the clouds toll by   
And the tall grass wave in the wind   
Just lay your head back on the ground   
And let your hair spill all around me   
Offer up your best defense   
But this is the end   
This is the end of the innocence   
  
_Dana cringed as she walked into the classroom. The only available seat was next to Doug "Pit-Stain" Steckler...   
  
Smothering a sigh, she sat next to him.  
  
"Dana... hia, babycakes..." he leered.  
  
"Steckler... do you remember what happened at the recycling drive?" she sighed.   
  
He eeped and skittered back as Dana smirked. That was one time she didn't mind playing the damsel-in-distress... not that she would _ever_ make a habit of it, but...   
  
**~Flashback:  
  
Steckler came in with a grocery-buggy full of cans as Dana stood with Rich in that annoying, degrading, cheerleading costume.   
  
"Okay, I got a thousand deodorant cans." he smirked, tossing one into the hoop over the bin. "Cheer me, baby." he said, starting to do this annoying little dance. "Come on, shake it for Papa..." he said, leering at her. "Work tha---"  
  
"You get _one_." Rich growled, holding him by the throat.   
  
"But..." he whined.  
  
"One, or I kick your butt so hard your nose bleeds." Rich said calmly, letting go.  
  
"It's one _per_ item." he persisted.   
  
Seeing the look on Rich's face, he relented.  
  
"Okay, okay... but it has to be a _good_ one? Can she take off her--- OW!!!"   
  
Dana looked on in surprise as Rich stuffed him into a bin and handed her her trench-coat.   
  
"Put it on; your shift and _all_ your shifts are over."  
  
"Not gonna argue." she grinned, pleased to be out of something that made her feel uncomfortable to begin with.    
  
She followed him out to the car and got in.   
  
"Rich?"  
  
"It's weird... at first it was kind of funny but that little twerp was leering at you and..."   
  
"You are _so_ sweet." she grinned, kissing him passionately...~**_  
  
Who knows how long this will last   
Now we've come so far, so fast   
But, somewhere back there in the dust   
That same small town in each of us   
I need to remember this   
So baby give me just one kiss   
And let me take a long last look   
Before we say goodbye   
  
_"Miss Foster, may I see you for a moment?" Dr. Hardcroft asked in that clipped English accent of his as class was letting out.  
  
"Sure..." she sighed.   
  
She just knew it was about her term paper she'd turned in Monday; it was _great_ work, she felt, but he was _never _satisfied with anyone or anything...   
  
"Miss Foster... it's almost the half quarter... I would hate to see someone so bright as yourself have to withdraw to keep from receiving a failing mark..."  
  
"Failing???" Dana squeaked.   
  
She blinked back hot tears as her throat began to ache. She'd never received a failure for a class in her _life, _and she wasn't about to start now! This was just awful... it could totally wreck her chances of getting into a good grad-school...    
  
"Miss Foster... I am willing to admit that perhaps you could improve your marks with some work... and some extra-credit assignments..." he said slowly.  
  
Dana looked up at him hopefully.  
  
"Anything, anything... I can't fail a class! I just can't..." she said, still very much upset.   
  
"Well... perhaps there is... something we can work out..." he breathed, reaching out to touch her hair... _  
  
Just lay your head back on the ground   
And let your hair fall all around me   
Offer up your best defense   
But this is the end   
This is the end of the innocence   
  
_Dana slipped back into Rich and JT's apartment, not wanting to really face anyone at this point, and was surprised to see herself surrounded by candles. She'd been walking since that afternoon, and it was now well past dark...   
  
"Mmmm... where've you been? I've been waiting..." Rich murmured, slipping her jacket off her before she could protest.   
  
She looked at him, so adorable in his tuxedo-boxers, and couldn't help but smile, despite the tension building up inside her.   
  
"Your shoulders are in absolute_ knots_..." he mused, massaging them gently.   
  
She closed her eyes gratefully.   
  
"Rough day?" he asked innocently.   
  
Dana shuddered involuntarily.  
  
"Hey... what's the matter?" he asked, biting his lip slightly.   
  
"I... I don't know how to even _say_ something like this..." she began, starting to pace around.  
  
"Well... you can try. You know you can tell me anything..." he said, becoming concerned.   
  
"It's... It's Professor Hardcroft..." she hedged.  
  
Rich sighed and sat next to her, putting an arm around her and laying her head on his shoulder, knotting his fingers in her hair.  
  
"What'd that wanker do now?" he asked sympathetically, dropping a kiss on her forehead.  
  
"Interesting choice of words there, baby..." she said nervously, not meeting his gaze.  
  
"Dana... you're shaking..." he said in shock, cupping her chin to make her look into his eyes. "What happened?" he demanded softly.   
  
"He... he... I can't!" she said desperately, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.   
  
"Dana, you're starting to _scare_ me here..." Rich said worriedly, moving to look into her face. "What _happened_???"   
  
"He... he said if I don't sleep with him I'll fail!" she blurted.  
  
She watched, wiping her eyes a bit, as Rich begun to pace.   
  
"That filthy... no good... son of a... I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!!!"   
  
"Rich, calm down..." she pleaded.   
  
"You can't let him get away with this, Dana."  
  
"No, no... I'm gonna just withdraw."  
  
"Well, that's step _one_." Rich agreed. "Step _two_ is reporting him."  
  
"But... it's my word against his..."  
  
"Isn't it always in cases like this? Honey..." he said softly, catching her hands. "We can't let him get away with this..."  
  
"But, I don't want anyone to know..." she sniffled. "I know... that sounds selfish... it's against e_verything_ I normally stand for... I should report this creep so he can't do it to some other girl, but..."  
  
"Shhhh... shhhh... It's okay..." he soothed, pulling her into a soothing embrace, dropping a kiss on the top of her head and rubbing her back gently. "Withdraw, and you never have to see him again, and _I'll _make sure this doesn't happen again..."   
  
"How?"  
  
"Just leave everything to me?"  
  
"Rich..."  
  
"It's gonna be all right, baby, just let me take care of it? Please?"  
  
Dana just sighed and leaned gratefully against him...  
  
~*~  
  
Dana woke up the next morning and rubbed her eyes wearily. Looking around, she realized she was huddled up beneath the covers of Rich's bed, wearing his shirt...   
  
"Geez, I'd better get up before Mom notices me and pitches a conniption..." she muttered, slipping weakly out of bed. She slipped out the backdoor and into the yard, where Cody was working on his van.   
  
She froze, hoping she could slip away unnoticed.  
  
"Morning, Dana-Burger." he said, not looking up.  
  
"Uh... hi, Cody..." she said weakly.   
  
"If you're worried about me squealing about your little 'slumber-parties' with the Rich-man, I won't; I've known about 'em for a while now and I kept my mouth shut..."  
  
"Thanks, Cody..." she sighed.   
  
"Somethin' wrong?" he asked, looking at her.  
  
Something was off, he thought silently with a frown. There she was, standing there in Rich's shirt, and... well, she looked like a helpless little girl... something he hadn't pictured her as, not even when she was like 14...   
  
"Dana?"  
  
"Yeah?" she asked absently.  
  
"Something's not quite right here... you can tell me..."  
  
"No, I just... I have to go... I overslept---"  
  
"I'll say; it's 11:00..."  
  
"WHAT?!" she screeched. "I missed my entire class!" she yelled, tearing into the house, forgetting about not running into her mother...  
  
~*~  
  
Rich stalked directly into Professor Hardcroft's classroom and waited, drumming his fingers on the desk, as student's milled out.   
  
"Mmmmmyes?" he asked, raising a brow. "Something I can help you with?"  
  
Rich went and shut the door deliberately, and stalked back over to him.  
  
"Yeah, you could say that..." he said in quiet tones, rage evident in his eyes.  
  
"Well?" he asked arrogantly.  
  
"You keep away from Dana Foster." he growled. "Here. This is her withdrawal form; she's out of this class. You have no reason to bother her again."  
  
"She will just have to take it again eventually; it's a requirement..."   
  
"Yeah, well, she'll take it from another professor, capice`?"   
  
Professor Hardcroft rolled his eyes.  
  
"Look, you... reject from Munchkin-Land, if there is a problem, I will discuss it with Miss Foster, not _you_."  
  
"No, see, that's why I'm _here_; you're not going near her ever again... I know... I know what you did, and if you even _try_ to approach her again, I'll---"  
  
"Oh, you'll _what_? I was a boxer at Harvard, and I have considerable height on you... Besides, I think it is up to Miss Foster, not her psychotically jealous boyfriend. She and I can---"  
  
But, that was as far as he got as Rich landed a blow square on his jaw...  
_  
Well it was one of those great stories   
that you can't put down at night   
the hero knew what he had to do   
and he wasn't afraid to fight   
the villain goes to jail, while the hero goes free   
I wish it were that simple for me.   
  
_Rich paced the little cell like a caged tiger. He just couldn't believe this...  
  
Arrested! And, for _what_?! Protecting his girlfriend? Letting his temper get the best of him and attempting to give that asshole what he deserved?  
  
This made no sense... he couldn't even come up with a viable defense; he _was_ assualting the guy, as far as the law states, and even he knew that self-defense was generally the only excuse for violence...  
  
**~Flashback:   
  
"Filthy bastard!" Rich screamed at the unconscious man, struggling violently as he was dragged off him.  
  
As the cuffs clinked ominiously around his wrists, he stopped cold and went pale...  
  
_"What have I done?" _he thought, suddenly able to feel the bruises on his face and body.   
  
But, his bruises were nothing compared to the product of his rage...~**_  
  
And the reason that she loved him   
was the reason I loved him too   
and he never wondered what was right or wrong   
he just knew - he just knew.   
  
_Dana ran into the police-station, Frank and Carol close in tow.   
  
"Where is he?!" she demanded to the first one sitting at a desk.  
  
"Who are you looking for?" the uniformed officer asked, raising a brow at the hysterical young woman.  
  
"Rich. Rich Halke." she panted.   
  
"Aha... minor assault charges."  
  
"Assault?" Carol gasped.  
  
"That has to be a mistake... it doesn't sound like Rich..." Frank began.  
  
But, Dana went cold and pale.   
  
"W-who did he 'assualt'?" Dana rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.    
  
"A Dr. Jeremy Hardcroft..." she said casually, glancing down at her clipboard._  
  
Shadows and shape mixed together at dawn   
but by time you catch them simplicity's gone   
and so we sort through the pieces   
my friends and I   
searching through the darkness to find   
the breaks in the sky.   
  
_"Oh, God..." she said, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, allowing a few tears to trickle out. "This is my fault..."   
  
"What do you mean, Dana?"  
  
Dand froze, not realizing she'd said that aloud--- or even that her mother was in the building...   
  
"_Dana_."   
  
"He... I didn't know what to do... so I told Rich... and... I didn't know he would... He just offered to bring my withdrawal form... this isn't like him; it's _not_ him, it's my _fault_!!!" she hollered rapidly, tears now streaming down her distraught face.  
  
"Dana. Breathe..." Frank instructed, putting his hands gently on her shoulders. "_Now_... what happened?" he asked, holding up a hand to silence Carol. _  
  
And the reason that she loved him   
was the reason I loved him too   
and he never wondered what was right or wrong   
he just knew - he just knew.   
  
_Rich looked up hopefully as the guard showed up and started opening his cell.  
  
"You _are_ here to let me out, not give me poison prison food or do... something equally horrible or worse, right?" he joked weakly.   
  
"You're free; people upstairs are arranging your bail right now..."  
  
"Bail? How much?" he frowned.  
  
"$500."   
  
"Whoa... that's some serious clam..."   
  
"You kiddin'?" the guard looked at him incredulously. "Kid... that is one of the _lower_ bails I've ever heard of... especially for something like minor assualt..."  
  
"Minor? So... how is he?" Rich asked, biting his lip.  
  
The guard shrugged.  
  
"Few contusions, cuts... coupla bruised ribs, cracked jaw... but, nothing actually _broken_ or torn... he'll be fine."   
  
Rich breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't facing attempted murder... _  
  
And we wonder, yes we wonder   
how do you make sense of this   
when the hero kills the maiden   
with his kiss - with his kiss.   
  
_Rich walked slowly back to the waiting area and was nearly tackled by a hug from Dana.  
  
"Ohhhh... Rich, are you all right???"   
  
"Shhh... shhh... I'm fine... I'm so sorry..." he breathed, hugging her tightly.   
  
Dana buried her face in his neck and knotted her fingers in his hair, holding on as if for dear-life.   
  
"Rich..." Carol began.  
  
"Mrs. L... I..." he started, trying to disentangle himself from Dana.  
  
"It's okay, Rich; I'm not condoning violence, but... We're not mad at ya..." Frank assured, looking carefully around at the police around them.  
  
Rich stopped moving and looked down at Dana, still tightly latched onto him and dropped a kiss on top of her head, sighing, and buried his face in her hair..._  
  
Well it was one of those great stories   
that you can't put down at night   
the hero knew what he had to do   
and he wasn't afraid to fight   
the villain goes to jail, while the hero goes free   
I wish it were that simple for me   
- if it were that simple for me_


End file.
